"But you know how that old saying goes right?
Beware of the devil that's hidden in plain sight" - Newsense

Australian hip-hopper Ciecmate has quietly been raising his profile as a full time producer
and part time emcee over the past few years. With "Chess Sounds Volume 01"
he's attempting to raise it even further, procuring a selection of talented rappers
from both Australia and North America, then providing the audio backdrop
for all of them to showcase their skills. He wastes no time on the above quoted
opener "Cause and Effect" featuring Newsense, a conspiracy theorist tale of state-sponsored terrorism and
New World Order harrowing enough to please even Immortal Technique.
"All aboard for the war on terror, waterboarding [...] all in the name of the
game of border protection." Things are rugged right from the jump.

Ciecmate doesn't let up on the throttle much over the next 16 tracks, but
the line-up changes from song to song along with the sonic landscape that
he procures. Brad Strut gets a rock'n'roll injection on "I Need Change,"
Tame One gets cavernous booming beats for "Once Again It's On," and
Kid Selzy gets a beat dirty and dusty enough for Killah Priest on "Trashem."
The one thing you could argue they all have in common is that these are
not sunny, cheerful pop tunes. In some ways they're a throwback to the
1990's era of underground rap songs on independent record labels, where
each emcee seemed pressed to outgrimey the hot single of the man or
woman who came before. One can hardly be colored surprised when
Termanology, Artisin and Gauge try to one-up the entire album
to be the ruggedest of all on "The End of the World":

"It's fucked up, no love for a real cat
See where the shit is at, they pull them triggers back
It's a wrap, snitches whacked, killers pack, shit is whack
D's creep the town, your shorty'll creep around
Young shorty he keep the pound, they lowered him to the ground
In this nightmare, don't fight fair, we got them pipes here
Bullets ain't nice here, take you out your Nike Airs
We sellin white here 'til we got them white hairs"

Some might argue that "Chess Sounds Volume 01" is just TOO bleak.
Cynics would even say the Australian artists featured on the album are
overcompensating in an attempt to get the same notice and recognition of
their American counterparts. I've heard enough Aussie hip-hop over the years
to argue differently, and would say the selection of artists like Maggot Mouf,
Fluent Form and Tornts are actually par for the course on that rap scene -
with the added benefit of Ciecmate's beats backing them up. It may not be
the kind of hip-hop music you dance to at the club or play in the background
while you're making love to a woman, but it's the kind of hip-hop that keeps
you nodding your head and paying attention to each bar said. While Australia
tends to dominate the flavors, rappers like Little Vic and his song "Fly Him
to God" keep the international breadth in full effect. Ciecmate's "Chess
Sounds Volume 01" is good enough you'll want to check for "Volume 02."